


The Arrangement- Alternate Final Chapter

by LittleSweetCheeks



Category: Madam Secretary
Genre: Angst, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-09
Updated: 2021-01-09
Packaged: 2021-03-13 09:14:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 849
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28651092
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LittleSweetCheeks/pseuds/LittleSweetCheeks
Summary: This is an alternate final chapter (57) to my story The Arrangement. Context will only be understood if you have read that story first.
Relationships: Elizabeth McCord/Henry McCord/Nadine Tolliver
Comments: 7
Kudos: 10





	The Arrangement- Alternate Final Chapter

**Author's Note:**

> I am a little bit sorry.

She stood in the hall; silent tears ran down her face as her cane bore much of her weight. Around her, Secret Service agents were demanding on her behalf, insisting that the doctors had to let her in. Frantic calls were going out, finding the kids… Tracking down Elizabeth.

But she knew… it hardly mattered now. They would all be too late.

They were so close, ten days to go. Ten days to freedom.

She’d never unsee the way he’d just stopped. Crumpled. There was no way, even in her best health, she could have stopped his fall to the ground.

Agents suddenly flanked her and then Bruce had her arms, was guiding her into the room where the body lay.

Henry no more.

Clapping plastic of blinds being closed sounded behind her and then a door shutting. She was alone. Alone to mourn, to weep.

They’d been three for so long and now… now they were only two.

Nadine climbed onto the bed, letting her cane clatter noisily to the floor as she curled against his body and just let it all go. All the heartbreak, all the fear of the future, right now she was alone and that hurt.

It overwhelmed her.

She needed Henry as much as she needed Elizabeth. Needed his strength, his guidance. Needed his smile and his warm embrace.

Lost, adrift, alone, she had no idea what to do.

All she knew was to cry.

=MS=

Everything that came after was a blur. She barely remembered waiting for Elizabeth to arrive at the hospitals, barely remembered the way an entire section had been cleared for them to mourn the loss of a husband.

Days later, the funeral had been a major production. The entire country had loved Henry McCord for over a decade and millions poured out their condolences. It had been overwhelming for both of them that the day lacked the privacy they’d both so desperately desired.

In the time between, they’d both had panic attacks, some so bad that Elizabeth’s staff…their closest friends… came to them, kept them tucked away from public view as they fell apart again and again. They only made it through the funeral events with them both heavily medicated, Elizabeth flanked either side by Jeff and Blake, Nadine by Bruce and Jay.

She wasn’t sure they would’ve made it without their entire family or their friends.

And then came inauguration day. President-elect Baker had visited the White House with his wife and had assured Elizabeth that he fully understood if she wasn’t up to attending his inauguration. Nadine had sat quietly at her side as he’d pulled his wife close, saying he wasn’t sure he’d be able to go on if his wife ever passed away. The moment they’d left, Elizabeth had reached out, gripping her hand hard.

All Nadine could do was hold on back as hard as she could. This chapter of their life was closing and they would be stepping into the next, just the two of them.

=MS=

Standing in the grass, Nadine stared out at the horses. They were home now. Forever. The house had reminders everywhere of Henry, but so far neither of them had been eager to clear them away. It was all still too fresh, too raw.

Earlier, Nadine had stood upstairs in the master bathroom as tears pricked her eyes, remembering the way Henry had suggested remodeling, adding a third vanity so they’d all fit. That had been the plan, the three of them fitting into this final stage of life together. As quickly as she’d been able, she’d fled the house to stand where she was now.

“Nadine?”

She turned, waiting as Elizabeth joined her and then wrapped her arms around her. Over the past week and a half they’d become so much more tactile than in the past. Nadine had rarely left Elizabeth’s side for more than a moment, spending her days trailing after her as she finished her duties even when the ache set in and begged her to slow down.

“I love you more than anything else.” Elizabeth held her close, bearing part of her weight.

“I love you too.”

“I was going through paperwork to put in the safe and… I found Henry and I’s original marriage license.” She drew a breath. “And it made me realize something.”

When she didn’t continue, Nadine prompted her. “What?”

“One day? We could get married. Really married. We both know it won’t ever fix Henry being gone, but maybe we could make it a promise to him that we’ll never leave one another behind.”

Nadine let that roll around in her mind. Elizabeth was now a widow, now free of a job that would leave her needing to continue hiding them. The world was a much different place, more accepting. She knew neither of them ever planned on forgetting Henry or that first anniversary, and they both cherished and would cherish forever the anniversary between the three of them, but…

She wasn’t ready, but then she knew Elizabeth wasn’t either. “Maybe… One day…”

“One day.”


End file.
